*An exchange concerning the Ohio Secretary of State* One of our volunteers sent an email to the Ohio secretary of…

By Erica Um, in Election Integrity Open Letters , at August 10, 2019

*An exchange concerning the Ohio Secretary of State*

One of our volunteers sent an email to the Ohio secretary of state urging Hand Marked Paper Ballots, which are the best way to prevent hackers and ensure the integrity of our elections, as attested to by over 100 experts on election security. This is the exchange that followed:

Response from the Secretary of State’s office:

Dear Mr. Scott, Thank you for contacting Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office. Your message has been forwarded for my review and response.Ohio Revised Code 3506.10(P) states: “No voting machine shall be approved by the board of voting machine examiners or certified by the secretary of state, or be purchased, rented, or otherwise acquired, or used, except when specifically allowed for experimental use, as provided in section 3506.04 of the Revised Code, unless it fulfills the following requirements: (P) On and after the firstfederal election that occurs after January 1, 2006, unless requiredsooner by the Help America Vote Act of 2002, if the voting machine isa direct recording electronic voting machine, it shall include avoter-verified paper audit trail.” I hope this information is helpful.If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Dave Ward Director of Constituent AffairsOffice of the Ohio Secretary of State

Our Follow-up – DRE’s just don’t cut it:

Dear Mr. Ward,

Thank you for your email. We noticed you indicated, “If the voting
machine is a direct recording electronic voting machine, it shall
include a voter-verified paper audit trail.” To secure our election
integrity we must strive to ensure that no jurisdictions use DREs or
hybrids in 2020. Hand marked paper ballots must be our primary voting
system.

Below please find a link on the vulnerabilities of Direct Recording
Electronic (DRE) machines, Hybrids, and Ballot Marking Devices (BMDs).
Leading experts do not recommend these machines. In section 1.12 in
the link below, Jennifer Cohn, Attorney and Election Integrity
Advocate explains how some DREs include so-called “Voter Verifiable
Paper Audit Trails” (VVPATs), which are almost as bad as paperless
machines. If you have any questions or if we can be of any assistance,
please do not hesitate to contact us.

Jennifer Cohn, the author at the New York Review of Books and election integrity expert, is happy to take your questions directly as well, at [snip]

Thank you for your time and consideration.

What’s next? Can you help?

We’re hoping for a continued conversation. Do you live in Ohio? Please contact your legislator and your county election officials to ask them to please use Hand Marked Paper Ballots in order to protect the integrity of our elections!